


Impromptu

by Annatheism



Category: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Genre: First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Inspired by Music, M/M, Shared Bed, Sharing a Bed, anderperry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-19 00:47:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17591597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annatheism/pseuds/Annatheism
Summary: Music, like poetry, is different for everyone who hears it. With the help of a borrowed record player, Neil and Todd exchange some thoughts and feelings.





	Impromptu

**Author's Note:**

> {song: Sibelius Impromptu No 5 in B minor Op.5}

Todd trudged up the steps to his room, after a dinner with his family to honor another achievement his brother had been awarded. He expected the dormitory to be quiet, save for some overlapping snores. What he heard instead was a faint melody of tinkling notes, music, resonating from one of the rooms. Student’s weren’t allowed any devices like radios or record players in the dorms, and the foreman’s room at the end of the hall was silent as he passed it. The music was so faint, a spiraling piano piece that repeated itself over and over, from highest parts of the piano to the lowest. He’d reached his own door by the time he could really hear it. He opened the door quietly to see Neil laid on his back on the bed, one arm on his pillow over his head and his eyes closed. A record player spinning on his desk.

“Neil...? What are you doing-”

“Shhh... Mr. Keating let me borrow it. I already checked, the foreman’s asleep.”

Todd nodded, even though Neil wouldn't see it as his eyes remained closed, a dreamy calm expression returning to his face. He took off his coat, hanging it over his desk chair, watching Neil for a moment before taking off his sweater, leaving his t-shirt and changing into his pajama pants, walking over to his bed with a book.

“What do you hear?” 

Neil’s voice was even more hushed than the music. Todd paused, stood between the two beds.

“Uhm… piano...?”

“No, no, like… what do you see… to me, it’s a sparkling light. Like the light that flickers between the branches of trees when you’re driving around during golden hour.” 

Todd watched, smiling as Neil gestured lazily with on hand.

“That’s lovely… I could see that...”

“But what do you see?” 

Neil’s hand had stopped, catching Todd’s and pulling him towards the bed. 

“Try it, c’mon, lay down, close your eyes.” 

Neil shuffled closer to the wall side of the bed, now watching as Todd reluctantly laid down, parallel to him. He propped himself up on one elbow, using his free hand to gently guide Todd’s eyes closed.

“What do you see? What does it make you feel?”

Todd’s face had reddened slightly, barely visible in the lamp lit room. He took a slow breath, trying to focus on the notes, his head sinking back into the warm pillow. 

“I’m… sinking, no… spiralling. Down, and down, past even the bed, past the floors. An- And it’s dark, and warm, and no one has to worry about me. I don’t even have to worry about myself.”

Todd inhaled suddenly after his short ramble, his eyes blinking open, and flicking towards Neil as the song faded out. 

“Wow...”

Neil said, almost breathlessly. He was propped up on his side, almost leaning over him, closer than Todd remembered.

“What?”

“He was right… there’s poetry in you after all...” 

Todd’s face blushed hotter as he smiled back a Neil.

“you do too… it always just seems to flow from you naturally. I feel like it has to be dragged out of me...”

“it'll get easier, you just have to do it more often. Let yourself get stirred up,” he shook Todd's shoulder playfully “and let it out... ‘Carpe diem’, remember?”

Todd laughed, his hand reaching instinctively to shove Neil's off. Instead he decided to test his own ability to be impulsive. He grabbed Neil's hand, swinging it back onto the pillow where it had been earlier, causing Neil to flop back onto his back. Neil just grinned up at him, in the moments Todd took to register their new position. Neil's hand was still clasped in his, now pressed into the pillow beside his head as Todd's upper half hovered over him.

“what's this?”

“...Carpe Diem.” 

Todd repeated, hesitantly. His eyes fluttering from Neil's eyes to his parted lips.

Neil lifted his other arm from between them on the bed, resting his hand gently on Todd's waist.

“Go on then…”

Todd gingerly leaned down, closing the gap between them. He briefly pressed his lips to Neil's, seemingly testing the waters. He retreated slightly before doing it again more slowly. When he pulled away this time Neil instinctively followed him, his head lifting off the pillow slightly, in an attempt to prolong it. Once he flopped back on the pillow, they both chuckled. Neil was playing with his hair absentmindedly and Todd was wondering how he got so lucky.


End file.
